This invention relates to a cell supporting matrix for supporting cells, a cell culture device and a fluid treating device wherein such cell supporting matrix is used.
Cell cultivation has been conducted by known processes such as those utilizing microcarriers, hollow fibers, porous matrices, and microcapsules.
Among these, attention has focused on the cell culture process wherein a cell suspension is injected into a matrix having a three dimensional porous structure and to the process wherein such matrix is impregnated with the cell suspension for immobilization and culturing of the cells.
In the perfusion culture utilizing such cell supporting matrix, flow paths for the liquid culture medium are necessary, and various improvements have been disclosed. Exemplary such improvements include provision of capillaries having a diameter of 1.5 mm at an interval of 3 mm in the matrix as disclosed in Ijima et al., Artificial Organs vol. 23, page 463, 1994 (in Japanese) and use of some matrices in the form of 2 mm cubic blocks as disclosed in Ohshima et al., Artificial Organs, vol. 21, page 1169, 1997.
When cell seeding by plain sedimentation precipitation is conducted by such methods, percentage of the cells immobilized is extremely low in the range of 10 to 30%, and efficient cell immobilization is not realized by such processes. Such processes, therefore, have proved impractical.
An improvement has been proposed wherein the matrix filled with the cells is subsequently subjected to centrifugation so that the cells may move in the matrix in the exterior direction, and the percentage of the cells immobilized has been thereby increased. In this process, the percentage of the cells immobilized has been increased to 80%.
This process, however, is impractical since a prolonged period as well as troublesome handling are required before the cell immobilization.
As described above, no technique has been so far provided which is capable of immobilizing and culturing the cells at a high density in a simple, efficient manner and in a short period.